1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a refrigerator including an optical sensor to sense whether or not ice cubes stored in an ice bin are at a full ice level.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator refers to an apparatus which preserves food in a cool state using a refrigeration cycle comprised of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, and also includes an ice making apparatus to make ice cubes.
The ice making apparatus includes an ice making tray in which ice cubes are made, an ejector to discharge the ice cubes from the ice making tray, an ice bin to store the ice cubes discharged from the ice making tray, and a controller to control an ice making process, thereby automatically making ice cubes.
In this case, the ice making apparatus further includes an ice level sensing member to sense whether the ice bin is fully filled with ice cubes and to determine whether additional ice cubes need to be made or not. An optical sensor is used as the ice level sensing member, and the optical sensor has an emitter to output optical signals and a receiver to receive the optical signals.
However, the refrigerator, which generally uses the optical sensor as the ice level sensing member, further includes an optical sensor heater so as to prevent malfunction of the optical sensor due to fog and frost generated around the optical sensor.